Amid an increase in incidences of police attempting to infiltrate various public meetings and events, a university in Kent revealed that police had requested a list of people expected to attend a public debate on fracking.

Canterbury Christ Church University had attempted to do what many
institutions of higher learning have done before: debate the
advantages or disadvantages of a particular social practice. In
this case, fracking. What made this event a bit different from
previous ones, however, is that the university received a request
from the local police to provide a list of guests expected to
attend the event, the Guardian reported.

University officials said they had been “contacted for a list
of attendees” at the campus debate, entitled ‘Engaging
Sociology, Fracking in the UK’, but did not comply with the
police request, stating that “the university did not feel it
was appropriate to provide the information,” the report in
the UK daily said.

Kent Police justified their request by saying they needed to
assess “the threat and risk for significant public events in
the county to allow it to maintain public safety.”

The university’s fracking debate on November 19 attracted more
than 200 people who are interested in learning more about the
controversial method of extracting oil and natural gas by
injecting a high-pressured of chemicals and water deep
underground. The technique has come under fierce attack from
citizen groups that say fracking is responsible for contaminating
soil and water supplies, and possibly even triggering
earthquakes.

Ian Driver, a Green party member who participated in the
university debate, expressed astonishment over the police
request.

“It’s deplorable. This was a public debate. It was not a
meeting planning any actions, protests or demonstrations. It was
simply a public discussion about a controversial issue,” he
told the Guardian.

A spokesperson for the University and College Union, which
represents academics, issued a statement that said: “Academic
freedom is a key tenet of our democracy and rightly cherished by
our universities. We are extremely uncomfortable with the police
asking for details of people intending to attend a public
meeting.

“Universities must remain a safe space for students, staff
and guests to rigorously debate any issue and not fear that the
police, or any other Big Brother figure, is looking over them
knowing who they are and where they live.”

The police request at Canterbury is just the latest effort by
police to gain knowledge or infiltrate various political
organizations.

In October, police received four complaints from students at
Cambridge University, as well as members of political
organizations, including Unite Against Fascism, UK Uncut and
Cambridge Defend Education, who say they were approached by
police on a number of occasions in an effort to enlist them as
informers.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, a police watchdog
agency, released a statement that: “We are concerned by the
allegations regarding the manner in which two officers of
Cambridgeshireshire Constabulary have allegedly attempted to
recruit informants to infiltrate various political
organisations.”

Cambridgeshire Police said they understood the “serious
nature of the allegations.”